Research Technician II

School of Medicine

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System comprise Duke Health, a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

The Dou laboratory at Duke University is seeking a highly-motivated and qualified individual for the position of Research Technician II to assist in setting up a cutting-edge RNA biology and sequencing lab geared towards defining the mechanisms and drivers for autoimmune diseases. The Dou lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach including biochemical assays, tissue culture, mouse models, FACS/flow cytometry, and high throughput sequencing among other assays to study the underlying causes and developmental course of autoimmune diseases from a lncRNA and epigenetic gene regulation perspective.

This research technician position involves both experimental research and lab management responsibilities. The successful candidate will work both independently and under direct supervision from the principal investigator as necessary. The technician will be directed as to which projects to pursue, methods to employ, and receive any necessary training for new techniques, but will be expected to complete a number of experiments and day-to-day monitoring of mice without requiring immediate supervision.

Responsibilities

• Perform routine lab maintenance, cleaning, ordering and organizing

• Understand, comply and assist in enforcing all safety standards and procedures to ensure a safe working environment for all laboratory staff

• Maintain adequate stock of lab supplies and ensure proper setup and functioning of equipment

• Manage a transgenic mouse colony, including but not limited to: live mouse handling, ordering, genotyping, breeding, routine monitoring of animal health, sample collection and processing, maintaining and updating mouse line records on multiple databases, and etc.

• Perform simple techniques in cell biology and microscopy: examples include cell isolation and culture procedures, immunocytochemistry, tissue cryosectioning, microscope imaging, cell sorting, and some basic molecular biology and biochemistry.

• Perform complex experiments working with both animal and human specimens in teams and individually: examples include sample preparation for storage and downstream studies, protein/nucleic acid isolation, immunoprecipitation, sequencing library and proteomics workflows, and etc.

• Utilize standard protocols through the application of theoretical knowledge acquired from input from supervisor and experiments in the field, in order to simplify or reduce error and inconsistency in results.

• Assist in the design and analysis of experiments; carry out experiments with minimal or no immediate supervision and record and maintain all acquired data in specified formats for scientific reliability and general comprehension

• Learn and develop new lab techniques and assist in the training of new personnel.

• Perform other duties as requested by the Principal Investigator

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Work generally requires a bachelor's degree in biosciences or other directly related scientific field. A postgraduate degree (e.g., Master of Science, etc.) is a valuable plus

Experience

None required above education/training requirement, but at least one year of experience is preferred OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE. 

Skills

This position is geared for the highly motivated individual with a preferred background in RNA biology and/or immunology and wet lab experience. Successful candidates for this position must display self-initiative and motivation, teamwork, excellent communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills. Previous animal handling experience is perferrred. Some basic computer science background (python or R programming) would be useful.

Job Code: 00000951 RESEARCH TECHNICIAN II
Job Level: 08

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